Why the battle of the badge at West Ham may be one step too far – for now

A West Ham fan’s home is his castle? Maybe not when they leave the Boleyn Ground (Picture: Getty Images)

With the announcement of 2014-15’s fixtures later this week – yes, already – the minds of football fans will temporarily return from Brazil to domestic matters.

Whilst everyone is keen to see who they will be playing when, for West Ham fans the news has an extra dimension, as the penultimate season at the Boleyn Ground before the move to the Olympic Stadium in summer 2016 becomes that much more of a reality.

Although relocation continues to provoke strong opinions, even the most die-hard refuseniks acknowledge it is happening. But there is one major factor that is still undecided – changing the club’s crest to mark the event.

The current design features the crossed hammers, in homage to the club’s original incarnation as Thames Ironworks, and the castle to mark the ground being on the site of a former castle owned by Anne Boleyn. The suggested removal of the castle to symbolise the move has, unsurprisingly, divided opinion.

Although it has been on the club crest for decades, the castle has come and gone from the shirt badge. Early pictures of the young Bobby Moore show a shirt with hammers but no castle, and although it was on the 1964 FA Cup-winning shirt, there are pictures of the 1965 team posing with the Cup Winners’ Cup without it. Similarly, the 1980 FA Cup winning shirt featured the castle, but from 1983-85 it was just the crossed hammers.

Shirt designs change with fashion – but redesigning the crest of the club altogether bites deeper into its identity, or more specifically that of its supporters.

Karen Brady is keen for the club to evolve after moving to the Olympic Stadium (Picture: Getty Images)

Manchester United changed the age-old city crest (still worn on club blazers) to the Red Devil in 1970, because Sir Matt Busby liked the nickname to put fear into opponents. Was this seen as severing ties with history, much of which had been made by Busby? No.

When Sunderland moved from Roker Park to the Stadium of Light, they got a completely new badge. A betrayal of their history? No, just starting a new chapter.

Badges do matter, not just because of what they say about a club’s current state but because of the story they tell about the road there. Arsenal were founded in the Dial Square workshop of a Woolwich armaments factory. The cannon has been their logo ever since, but the specifics of Dial Square and Woolwich are not present. Not everything can be fitted in.

Maybe the resistance of some West Ham fans to change is down to the fact they feel the Stratford move is only happening because the ground happens to be there, rather than it being really necessary. Personally I like the crest and what it represents, but I realise that at some future date, that will become another part of the club’s history, of less relevance to that future incarnation of West Ham.

Should it change one day? Possibly. But maybe not now. It’s hardly entering Hull Tigers or Vincent Tan territory, but moving grounds is enough of a psychological upheaval for many fans. One thing at at time.